The use of firearms by local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel, as well as the military and private security sectors, presents a variety of situations in which the very circumstances surrounding this usage becomes an issue. For instance, oftentimes there are questions as to whether the discharge of a weapon was necessary, what events dictated the firing of a weapon, or who was actually present on the scene and what those individuals may have been doing at the time a weapon was fired. Recounts and recreations of circumstances surrounding the use of firearms is critical to subsequent investigations. However, witness observations, after the fact, are often conflicting and unreliable. Inquiries would be well served if images of the actual incidents which are the subjects of investigation could be viewed by the finder of fact. As a result, the contemporaneous memorialization or recording of the events would be of great value.
The prior art discloses attempts to incorporate information gathering systems into firearms; but such attempts are complex and usually require major modification of the entire weapon. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0086032. Different types of recoil guide rods have also been developed. However, all these assemblies relate to ancillary weapon functions, unrelated to the instantaneous recording and reporting of events. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,419,072 and 6,892,488.
There have been and is currently no separate, self-contained recoil spring camera assembly which successfully integrates known components into a single compact device designed to efficiently and effectively operate within the guide rod cavity of a firearm, to instantaneously record and report on events, including the weapon's discharge. There are no prior unitary systems which, quite literally, can be dropped into the barrel of a recoil rod cavity of a firearm to replace the standard recoil spring guide for these purposes.